


A Cold Case Part Three

by rowdy_tanner



Series: The Sword of Damocles Series. [3]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 20:13:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6871636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowdy_tanner/pseuds/rowdy_tanner





	A Cold Case Part Three

#  _The Sword of Damocles Series_

 

 

 

#    
  


**Disclaimer:** The boys are the property of MGM, Mirisch, and Trilogy Entertainment. I do not own them or make money from them but if I did own them I promise that I would share.

**Characters:** Focus, Sarah Connolly, Chris Larabee, Vin Tanner. Includes, Buck Wilmington, Nathan Jackson, Mary Travis, Josiah Sanchez, Ezra Standish, J. D. Dunne and Ella Gaines. **OCs** , Admiral Woodrow C. Larabee, Ginger Larabee

**Summary:** The Sword of Damocles Series. A Modern Day AU (Pre-The ATF AU created by the marvelous Mog). When Sarah Connolly first sees Chris Larabee it is love and murder at first sight. Can Sarah's best friends, Vin Tanner and Buck Wilmington, join with Nathan Jackson and persuade Josiah Sanchez, Ezra Standish to work alongside J. D. Dunne in order to give true love a helping hand?

**Warning:** The "Admiral" is NOT a warm and fuzzy character. He is both intentionally rude and offensively misogynistic. As Amber would say, he isn't entirely useless he can always serve as a bad example. His outmoded attitudes are no reflection on the US Navy nor are the comments that pass between Buck and Vin.

**Credits:** Suggested song lyrics and T-shirt wrangling - Amber Drabble. Vital feedback and cheerleading - Mary Travis-Larabee

  
  


 

> **Chapter 9**

> Chris Larabee had no memory of calling the Fire Department or of he himself being transported to the hospital. Those weren't the kind of memories he wanted anyway. For two solid days now he had wondered what kind of a God would snatch away the woman of his dreams and leave him behind, physically without a scratch, totally bereft. He would have been discharged by now except officially he had nowhere _to_ go, no ranch house to call home. Nor had he uttered a single solitary word since his hospital admittance. Much to the hospital psychiatrist's frustration.

> Every time he closed his eyes he saw Sarah and Vin standing at the door to the ranch house before they vanished in a eye-searing flash of flame.

> Dead.

> He had a vague recollection of someone speaking in a soft voice full of sympathy informing him that his wife, Ella Larabee, had died in the fire. Did they think he was stupid? No one could have survived that inferno. Not even the salamander-skinned Ella.

> Alone.

> Without the love of his life, Sarah.

> Alone.

> Without his twin soul, Vin.

> _Sarah, Vin, I hardly knew ye._

> Except he'd known them for ever.

> Could still feel them by his side.

> The only thing he could FEEL.

> Alone he crawled out of the hospital bed and searched the locker for his clothes. Wandering down the stark corridors unchallenged he found the exit to the parking lot. The lowering sky was a steel gray exactly matching his mood as he hailed the brightly colored taxicab that offended his eye. The world outside should be bleak and everything in it a mournful monochrome.

> Huddled in the back seat it was sometime before he became aware that the driver hadn't yet asked him his destination yet the scenery flashing by the side window was definitely familiar.

> "Where are you taking me?" he demanded to know.

> The young raven-haired driver glanced in the rear view mirror. "Home," he answered.

> Chris recognized the long tree-lined gravel driveway, the large house with its trim freshly painted and the regimented rose beds.

> It was his father's house but not home, never a home since the day his mother had left. Jumped ship as his father thought of it, if he thought of it at all.

> His father's indomitable housekeeper, Nettie Wells, the only woman that any of the Larabee men had ever taken advice from, opened one of the double doors and her arms to welcome Chris inside. Her fierce hug brought back a flood of memories grounding Chris. He wished he hadn't cruelly cut her out of his life alongside his father. Until now he had always seen her stubborn refusal to leave his father alone in this big mausoleum of a house as an act of betrayal aimed at his mother but now he realized Nettie had acted as a buffer between his parents. Caring for them both equally. Nettie had always had his best interests at heart.

> Admiral Woodrow C. Larabee was on deck to greet his son. As usual Chris didn't know whether to offer his hand or salute so he squared his shoulders, stood up straight and locked his hands behind his back.

> "Christopher Adam," acknowledged the Admiral.

> Chris nodded his head in reply.

> The young taxicab-driver dressed like a college student hopped from one foot to the other plainly embarrassed by the awkward atmosphere. It quickly became apparent that the Admiral had nothing to say to his estranged son and visa versa. J. D. Dunne found himself babbling to fill the deafening silence.

> "Your room is upstairs," he said immediately blushing at his own gaucheness.

> As if Chris didn't know where his own bedroom was situated.

> "Drinks at pinky time," growled the Admiral. Indicating the sitting room before turning on his heel and abruptly leaving the light and airy hall for the sanctuary of his study.

> Chris turned and ignoring the main staircase opened the discreet door in the wall and once through it quickly strode towards the cantilevered staircase originally meant for the household staff.

> Following him at a trot JD nervously cleared his throat. "Mr. Larabee, perhaps you would like to see what it is I do here?"

> Chris turned to stare at him and the Larabee glare was evidently a family trait. However, JD was made of sterner stuff than it first appeared and he had weathered the Admiral's version. So he indicated yet another paneled door.

> Raising an eyebrow Chris continued to glare icily at the younger man.

> "I caught Ella's murderous confession on camera."

> Not revealing any emotion whatsoever Chris followed JD down into one of the large basements and if he was astonished at the sight that greeted him then he didn't say so. JD waved him into a comfortable leather desk chair in front of an oversized flat screen. Before his eyes Chris watched Ella prowling the ranch house on the day of the fire cursing out loud.

> _"Larabee! I killed for you!" she screamed to thin air._

> _Tearing at her hair she paced distractedly across the floor. "I poisoned Joseph Petrie and murdered his addle-brained niece to give you the ranch you wanted so badly. The kind of place you could only dream about but never own. That woeful excuse for a husband Joseph Petrie liked his food so I fed him arsenic until he was sick to death! Then I altered his will. You needed a job? I got rid of Al Lopez putting him down like a mangy old dog."_

> _Laughing she continued. "I even killed that pathetic little nurse with the nerdy bookworm of a kid always hanging around. Mowed her down with her own car. She wasn't good enough for you, darling."_

> "My mother," interrupted JD in a soft voice.

> _"None of them were. I got rid of them all."_

> "All?" asked Chris.

> "Guess we'll never know for sure how many souls she murdered," shrugged JD.

> _"As for Sarah Tanner! Ha! She's next! She'll never be Sarah Larabee. You don't think that I know what you're thinking, Chris? The way you looked at her from that very first minute? You see I killed and killed for you. For our love. So we could be together forever. It isn't over until I say it is! I'll keep on killing for as long as it takes to make you see sense."_

> Ella heard Vin pounding on the ranch house door and screeched hysterically.

> JD paused the recording.

> Chris swiveled the chair around. "You bugged the ranch house?" he demanded to know.

> "How do you think the Fire Department reached the ranch so quickly? We alerted them when we saw what Ella was doing inside the ranch house. And we only bugged the ground floor rooms. Plus we had permission."

> "What? How?"

> "It was written into the agreement Ella signed when her new internet connection was installed by 'our' company. She was too happy to be getting such a great deal to notice the extra stipulations inserted into the standard contract's small print. We have cart blanche to legally use anything recorded by the cameras that she agreed to let us install and even record it onto hark disk. We can use it in any way we see fit."

> Waving his hand Chris indicated the sophisticated equipment. "How long have you spent planning all this?"

> "Myself? From the moment Ella Gaines murdered my mother. The Admiral? We first met online when you married Ella."

> "The Admiral _online_?" Chris found the whole bugging thing easier to believe than the idea that the Admiral had ever Tweeted or Facebooked.

> "In an online forum I set up for the families of victims of unsolved crimes. We are casualties too. We help each other in any way we can. By exchanging skill sets for example. Friends of ours from the forum, ones that actually worked for the company she had chosen, installed Ella's 'personalized' internet," grinned JD. "The Admiral had bought a pretty basic laptop and familiarized himself with search engines. The Admiral was sure that Ella Gaines was trouble and in spite of what you think he is inordinately proud of you. Always has been. He was protecting you."

> "Proud of me? My mother came alone to every single event I was ever involved in. Every football game or junior rodeo. He even missed my graduation. The Navy came first. A family tradition going way back was more important than my mother and I. You have no idea how fucking close I came to being named 'Archibold' after some ship he once served on!"

> "Perhaps he thought he was keeping the world safe for you and your mother," shrugged JD.

> "Yeah, that sounds like the Admiral. A man with a God complex bigger than God's."

> "You joined the Navy too," pointed out JD. "Doesn't that give you an insight into his life?"

> "I loved the Navy but not to the exclusion of all else."

> At a loss what to say next JD pressed the restart button. Both men watched as Ella herself started the blaze that turned the ranch house into a raging inferno.

> "Mad bitch," hissed Chris as JD handed him the Fire Department's interim report. "They didn't find any bodies?" moaned Chris, flicking through the pages. "No bodies?"

> "Only Cletus Fowler. His body found in the barn has still to be formally identified. By dental records most probably. As for inside the ranch house Ella was probably in the most intense part of the fire. They'll have to rake through the ashes for weeks to find even a trace of her."

> "I don't give a damn about that bitch! If they find her I wouldn't even bury what's left of the body in a beer can but Sarah and Vin were outside I thought. . .I've seen explosions and I thought something would remain . . . enough to bury. . ."

> JD stared aghast as Chris broke down.

> "Mr. Larabee, Chris, I thought . . .you were all in the same hospital. Did no one tell you?"

> "Tell me that Ella was dead? Yes, they told me that."

> "Your Sarah is fine, Chris." JD wondered why he had referred to the police detective as 'your' Sarah but it seemingly just came naturally to him to think of her that way. "Sarah Connolly stayed by your side until they told her you were okay. Don't you remember?"

> "Visited me? No!" protested Chris, before recalling the soft voice that had told him about Ella's death and held his hand. "SARAH! How could I not know?" he sprang to his feet. "Where is she now?"

> "Miss Connolly has already been officially discharged from the hospital. She might still be at the ICU hoping to sit with Vin. Sarah said no one injured in the line of duty should wake up alone. A cop thing, I guess."

> "Vin? Alive?" Chris suddenly sat back down as the room began to spin. "But I saw them both standing at the door to the ranch house. They must. . .there was no way. . .they could. . ."

> "It was an old door. Not like the modern doors we have now. Inches thick."

> "Yes, strong and solid," agreed Chris.

> "Vin must have heard a sound or maybe smelled the smoke seconds before because apparently he turned and shielded Miss Connolly with his body. Then the door crushed them both. Sarah was briefly knocked unconscious but Vin suffered a head injury, abrasions, serious contusions and some broken bones. It was touch and go for him during the first forty-eight hours."

> "Alive!" Chris was unable to stop smiling at the joyous news. "Damn! My truck, it's out at the ranch. I need a taxicab. Know where I can get one?" He asked mischievously.

> JD grinned back. "Sure do! The borrowed taxicab doesn't have to go back until tonight but your own truck is right here in the garage. The Admiral had it picked up and brought back here for you. Seems everyone that has ever been in the Navy owes your father a favor. He seems to be able to get anything he wants done right away. It's a bit scratched and dinged-up by the debris from the fire but intact enough to be drivable."

> JD was left speaking to thin air Chris was already out the door and on his way to the hospital and Sarah.

> **Chapter 10**

> The ICU was quiet but busy. The hum of machines, the glow of monitors and the hushed tones of nurses and doctors. At this time of day they were too busy for visitors to be allowed in but Larabee wasn't going to be kept away from his new friend. Seeing that Larabee looked so haggard, so desperate, the soft-hearted nurse found him a hard plastic chair and placed it by Tanner's bed.

> The medical staff had told him that Tanner was in a drug induced coma but progressing as well as could be expected. Chris looked at his friend. Tanner's head was swollen to twice its normal size and covered in dark bruising. Wires led to machines. Tubes ran up and down to bags both cloudy and clear.

> How it was that Larabee walked into the ICU unerringly going straight to Tanner's bedside without pausing to ask a nurse where his friend was, astonished the doctor on duty. Even Tanner's own mother wouldn't have recognized Vin Tanner today and they had moved him over to the other side of the ICU since yesterday. She found excuses to hover around the patient's bed and slyly watch the tall good-looking blond visitor.

> "I'm sorry. I'm going to have to insist that you to leave now. We have to change Mr. Tanner's dressings. Here's my cell phone number you can ring me anytime to ask about his status. Or if you just want to talk."

> Chris looked at the doctor blankly but taking his hand from Tanner's arm he took the card she offered. She didn't know what had possessed her to do that except she was intrigued by the two men. They somehow had an effect on each other. Although it was barely perceptible Tanner was responding even better to his treatment than he had done yesterday. She noticed on reading his chart that only an hour or so earlier there had been a sudden improvement in his condition, which had nosedived after his earlier surgeries. The visitor had merely sat by the patient's bedside his right hand lightly holding the recumbent man's forearm.

> As for the handsome blond he looked far less haggard than he had previously.

> Larabee walked out of the ICU feeling ten times better than he had on entering. He had no idea what the future would hold but whatever it was then at least Sarah and Vin would still be in it. Larabee ticked off in his head changes that would have to be made if Tanner was left in a wheelchair. As far as he could see there was nothing that couldn't be got around. No problem that couldn't be solved.

> *******

> "I'll get him through this whatever it takes," Chris had promised Sarah. "We'll do it together."

> Now he hoped that they really could. Today was the day the doctors were taking Vin off the drugs that had so far kept him in a coma. He sat by the bed and waited.

> "Mr. Larabee." The doctor greeted him the same way every morning even though he always answered with 'call me Chris'.

> "Hi, Doc, call me Chris. Why isn't he coming round?"

> "He has, he's asleep is all. It's been tough on him you know. Sleep is the best medicine for him right now."

> He looked at her and she saw the question in his eyes.

> "We don't know if he'll walk. It's hopeful, the swelling is subsiding slowly and there's nothing untoward as yet. Our surgical team is the best we take on specialist cases from all over the country you know. We have a specialist spinal injury unit here we'll move him there soon. As with any trauma of this magnitude a lot will depend on his state of mind and willpower."

> "He's tough."

> "That's half the battle."

> "Chris," the hoarse voice was little more than a whisper.

> "Vin," breathed Chris.

> "See?" she said. "Don't let him talk much his throat will be very sore, tubes you know."

> "Can't move my head."

> "That's for a good reason. They don't want you shamelessly ogling all the nurses."

> "Sarah. . .?"

> "Is fine. Not a scratch on her. You saved her and I can't thank you enough for that. She had to be in court this morning but she'll be here this afternoon as she always is."

> "Only want. . ."

> "What? Pain meds?"

> "See you."

> Chris stood up and leaned over his friend for a moment or two, "That's enough I'm certainly not here to be ogled, Tanner."

> "Forgotten you're so damn ugly, Cowboy."

> "I didn't come here to be insulted."

> "Where ya usually go?"

> "Your RV."

> "I'm hurt bad?"

> "They did a CAT scan and it's as I thought they didn't find anything, your head is completely empty."

> "Yeah? Hell, it feels like it's full of Dutchmen dancing in clogs."

> "You look like Pumpkin Head but your hair will grow back."

> "They cut my hair?" a single tear leaked from Tanner's eye.

> "Hey, the lady doctor says you'll get your good looks back."

> "Told you I'm good lookin'."

> "Of course she's old and her eyesight's bad."

> "Jus' my type."

> "I saw her first."

> "Don't be greedy you got Sarah. Tired," yawned Tanner, his eyelids drooping.

> "Close your eyes. I'll be right here watching you sleep."

> "Whatever floats your boat, Cowboy."

> Larabee thought that had gone well. Tanner had known him and he still had his warped sense of humor. So far it had gone better than he'd dared to hope.

> *******

> Larabee had been there for every advance Tanner had made. Each small triumph had been celebrated. Larabee had been there when Tanner had said goodbye to the Doc before they moved him from ICU.

> "Here's a leaving present," she said throwing a large manila envelope on the bed. "Your spinal X-rays. You may need them when you start setting off air terminal metal detectors."

> "I can do that now?"

> "I wouldn't advise passing underneath any giant junkyard magnets either."

> "Wow!"

> "Will he need a drop of oil?" asked Larabee with a perfectly straight face.

> "No. However, I recommend that you don't get the little Gremlin wet or feed him after midnight."

> "Will he rust if I leave him out in the rain?" asked Larabee.

> "No, Chris, he won't but you may get better TV reception if you sit him on the roof."

> "At last he's got a chance to be useful around the house. Thanks, Doc," said Larabee giving her a peck on the cheek.

> "You're welcome, Chris," she said.

> "Hey, Larabee, find your own doctor she's mine!" protested Vin.

> "Not anymore, Mr. Tanner. 'Bye," she said.

> Surprised at how much she was going to miss them both. The intense blond and the blue-eyed patient seemed to have a symbiotic relationship. The thought amused her that the nurses might spend less time gazing wistfully at the two handsome men and get more work done.

> Chris was puzzled that once Vin was settled in the spinal unit he quickly became depressed.

> "I'm fed up of the 'Ists'," he drawled.

> "Ists? You've got the Ists? Is it catching?"

> "Physiotherapists, nutritionists you name it and I've had the Ist."

> "Good. Look on the bright side the more Ists you have the quicker you'll recover."

> "The damn optimistic Ists are the worst," he rasped looking askance at Larabee.

> "I can only see one pessimistic Ist here."

> "It don't matter," he sighed.

> "What doesn't matter?"

> "Whether I get better quick or not."

> "Of course it does."

> "Ain't gonna take me back on SWAT."

> "They're not? Have they said that?"

> "No. Doesn't take much working out though. Chris, be straight with me, what am I gonna do if I can't walk right?"

> "As I recollect you've always walked funny."

> "Ain't gonna go back to the PD to be the water boy."

> "I promise you it will all be okay. Hey, I'm even thinking about starting my own horse ranch and there will always be something there for you to do."

> *******

> Yet somehow Larabee felt that Tanner didn't believe him about any of it. Vin's progress was slow although both the doctors and the physiotherapists said that was to be expected. They said for the specific type of injury Tanner had suffered he was doing well.

> "It just won't go through that thick Texan head that it will take some time and a lot of hard work," Chris told Josiah Sanchez.

> "It's not the hard work it's because he thinks that he's a burden on everyone," agreed Josiah, "something he has always strived not to be."

> "I think he's about to give up."

> "Don't let him. If he gives up now the depression will take over and he'll never walk."

> "I don't know how to get him past this low point."

> "You'll think of something," Josiah said confidently and eventually Chris did.

> *******

> "Hell, Tanner, on your ass again?" she crowed.

> It was the third time that session he had fallen and as he waved the physiotherapist away with a string of foul curses he decided to hell with it he wasn't getting up again today until he had heard that unmistakable voice.

> "It's a nice ass but it looks better standing up," Sarah continued.

> Sarah was standing hand in hand with Chris and it was testament to how hard Tanner was concentrating that he hadn't heard more than one person come in. He struggled to his feet and gripped the two parallel bars. The physiotherapist helped him reach the end and turn around to make his slow progress back along the bars back toward his waiting wheelchair.

> "You look well," he rasped.

> "You look damn awful. I've never seen you look so pale."

> "I ain't been out much," he drawled.

> "No, it looks like you've been slacking off as usual. Poor Chris has been left to do all the hard work as normal. Could you get me a coffee, Chris? I'd send Tanner but I haven't all day to waste."

> When Chris had left the room she turned on Tanner, "How could you? Can't you see how peaked he is? First he thinks you're going to die because of him and Ella then he thinks you're never going to walk again. The poor man is devastated."

> "Chris knows I'll walk again. He's the one keeps me goin'," he retorted deeply shocked.

> "All Chris can see is you not walking. Can't you make more of an effort to show some real improvement for his sake?"

> "Effort? I'm making every damn effort the doctors are happy with my progress but it takes time."

> "It looks like it sitting on your ass throwing a tantrum."

> Damn. She had him there. So what if sometimes he did give up? It was hard, painful and humiliating. Still he hadn't thought how Chris must be feeling. Chris had been here everyday as well as finding time to care for Vin's horse, Peso. Sarah was right he could try just a little harder for Chris.

> "You're holding up the wedding too."

> "Wedding? What wedding?"

> "Mine."

> "Who is crazy enough to marry you?" he teased.

> "Chris wants you to be his best man."

> "He does? He wants me? Me?" Tanner was plainly astonished.

> "I tried to talk him out of it but the damn fool is adamant that he wants you," said Sarah. "We don't need your wheelchair cluttering up the church."

> Still stunned he had to say a quick farewell to Sarah as the staff were here to take him to get cleaned up before lunch. So when they put him in the pool later he'd do extra to make up for this morning. He wouldn't let Chris down anymore. He'd be at that wedding come hell or high water. It would be an honor to stand beside Chris Larabee.

> *******

> "Chris, that was the most terrible thing I've ever had to say to him," sighed Sarah. "I hope Josiah is right and that Vin really needed that."

> "We ran it by his doctors and they all agreed. Tough love can be the best medicine," comforted Chris.

> "All I wanted to do was hug him."

> "Hug me instead. I promise you it's for the best."

> **Chapter 11**

> It was chaos. Total chaos.

> And Chris Larabee didn't do chaos. It was causing him to regard everyone around him as a solid gold idiot. Having tolerated Larabee's baleful glare one too many times Sarah banished him from her small apartment. Glad to leave behind the wedding planner with the annoying nasal twang and the joy of having cake samples and different colored buttonholes shoved under his nose for his approval Chris decided to act on something that had come to his attention only a few days previously.

> JD was surprised when he opened the door to Chris Larabee but intrigued enough to lead the blond man down into his basement lair.

> "Sarah's father has refused to attend the wedding. I need an address for him," stated Chris, struggling to halt his rising ire.

> "He isn't going to give her away?" JD was nonplussed not knowing how to respond to Larabee's statement. How and why did families treat each other so badly? Having no family to speak of it was incomprehensible to JD that any parent would act this way.

> "Sarah has asked Buck to give her away but she's evidently heartbroken."

> JD couldn't resist asking, "Is your father invited to the wedding?"

> "Yes," answered Chris with a tight smile.

> "Your mother too?"

> "Of course."

> "Have they accepted their invitations?"

> "Yes," growled Chris. "Mom's flying in early especially to attend. Nettie and Casey Wells have accepted theirs too before you ask."

> "They have?"

> "Are you attending?"

> "What? No. I mean I haven't had an invitation."

> "Sarah presumed that you would be Casey's plus one. Are you planning on bringing someone else? Do you need your own invitation?"

> "Casey hasn't mentioned it to me so I thought. . ."

> "Sarah will put yours in the mail then," said Chris annoyed to be distracted from his real purpose. "Hank Connolly."

> "Who? Sarah's father? Did he say why?" asked JD returning to the topic Chris had given as his reason for calling.

> "He saw all the press coverage on the Gaines case and decided the widower of a serial-killer wasn't a suitable husband for his darling daughter," snarled Chris.

> "A hero Navy SEAL? Not good enough?" boomed Admiral Larabee from the basement door. "The man is patently an idiot."

> JD was tapping on the keyboard in front of him pulling up background information on Hank Connolly scant as it was. "He himself was in the Navy. The press never actually referred to you as a Navy SEAL. It may help change his mind if you let him know," offered JD.

> "Take that Buck Wilmington with you and go and put the Connolly man right on a few things," ordered Admiral Larabee. "Good Navy man Wilmington, I've seen his service record."

> *******

> It was another fine Navy day.

> In fact the rock salt was still stinging in all the wrong places. Hank Connolly wasn't moved by Larabee's suitability, Navy SEAL hero or not and even less impressed with Buck Wilmington's attempts at friendly persuasion. Reaching for his shotgun Hank had done some persuading of his own and Buck having decided that discretion was the better part of valor had grabbed Chris by the scruff of the neck and instigated a tactical retreat.

> "She wants doves."

> "What?" Buck Wilmington was riding shotgun in Chris Larabee's shiny new truck as they drove back from their failed mission.

> "Sarah wanted to have doves at the wedding ceremony but I said no," sighed Chris. "Now she can have any damn thing she wants. I don't care how much it costs or how much of an ass I look. She deserves to have a special day."

> "Yeah?"

> "Yeah."

> "Well she did ask me to mention you wearing a shocking pink tux. . ." grinned Buck.

> *******

> A gaggle was the word a delighted JD had used to refer to them. Coven was the term used by both Ezra, Josiah and Nathan. Bevy was Buck's preferred mode of expression when basking in their rarified company. Chris had gone to ground and couldn't be found to offer up his choice of collective noun. Vin, having now progressed to crutches, was rendered speechless and could only gaze in awe as Sarah was surrounded by the very acme of womanhood.

> The services of the wedding planner had been quickly dispensed with by Chris and all arrangements had been turned over to Sarah with her husband-to-be's blessing.

> Now each woman was willingly offering invaluable advice to the bride-to-be. Raine had wonderful suggestions to make on the subject of wedding venues making bachelor Nathan Jackson nervously wonder on just how much research she had carried out and why? Nettie Wells and Evie Travis proved to have an encyclopedic knowledge of wedding etiquette. Mary Travis offered a wealth of advice on the subject of flowers. Inez had a vast array of facts concerning catering for wedding nuptials second to none. Sarah having no mother and very few women friends was relishing this new experience.

> Chris Larabee had inherited his tall, well-muscled physique and glacial stare from the Larabee branch of the family tree but his lethal charm and love of horses came intravenously from his mother's antecedents. Virginia "call me Ginger" Kidd Larabee was always tall and willowy enough to be a catwalk model but she had much preferred to be behind the camera. Having taken up photography to relieve the boredom of her home life and thereby discovering a real flair for it. Finding the ability to capture that indefinable something that made a photograph represent an iconic moment in time.

> So now the strawberry blonde was in a face-off with Maude Standish over "The Dress" and there was more tension in the atmosphere than during any dramatic Wild West showdown. Nettie Wells was on hand to cry praise God and pass the ammunition but everyone else within caterwauling distance had wisely taken cover. When Virginia reached for her cellphone, called a celebrated Parisian designer and had her call taken personally Maude finally admitted defeat. Thankfully the prospect of Sarah waddling down the aisle resembling a giant lace meringue was never mentioned again.

> Ezra was enjoying himself hugely. Never before had he seen another woman get the better of Maude let alone stand up to her. He understood far more about what made Chris Larabee tick by observing Ginger Larabee. She didn't need a military rank to be accepted as a leader. Her natural ability to make decisions oozed from every pore but it didn't hamper her capability to listen to others and take advice. Clearly Chris Larabee had inherited his leadership qualities from both of his parents. Ginger obviously adored her son and her love had given him the confidence to leave home ready to lead an independent life.

> *******

> Most elements included made it a very traditional church wedding. Resplendent in his dress uniform, Buck Wilmington beamed from ear to ear as he escorted a silken clad Sarah down the aisle. After some persuasion Chris had proudly worn his Navy medals while Ginger had generously handed the Larabee family pearls over to Sarah. Billy Travis proudly carried the bride and groom's rings down the aisle on a velvet cushion. Casey and Raine making the most delightful bridesmaids.

> Even the Admiral had allegedly wiped away a tear.

> Vin Tanner had almost ridden hell for leather in the general direction of Texas when he had suddenly realized that as best man he was required to make a speech. However, Ezra Standish had helped him write something both witty and suitably proper in tone.

> The scuffle outside the church when the bride had tossed her bouquet over her shoulder was quite unseemly. Maude savagely elbowing both Raine and Casey out of the way. Using her quick reflexes a very surprised Inez found herself in possession of the peach roses and for reasons that she herself couldn't explain looked straight at Buck Wilmington.

> *******

> After the ceremony an unable to stop smiling Chris Larabee was surprised to be approached by Stephen Travis. Having only met the young judge once before Chris was intrigued as to what Mary's husband was going to say.

> "Larabee, I understand from Mary that you are between careers?" Judge Travis quickly continued without waiting for Chris to reply, "I have been appointed to oversee a special investigation into organized crime."

> "I'm sure Buck Wilmington will do a good job."

> "You heard he'd been accepted? Yes, he is the right man for the job. Truth be told, Chris," Stephen led Chris out of earshot of the other guests before continuing, "I asked for someone from an unrelated department because it is suspected that some members of the PD may be implicated. Vice and Narcotics have a vested interest to say the least. The fact that you know about Wilmington's application indicates that security at the PD is virtually non-existent. Frankly, I don't know who can be trusted. I think I'm being followed. No, I'm sure I'm being tailed and my office phone has been tapped."

> "Sounds like you need the Feds involved. Look, I have no experience in this sort---"

> "Exactly," interrupted Stephen. "What I need is a personal bodyguard. Someone with no affiliation to what I've come to think of as either side. Paid for by my office and answering only to me. The salary and benefits will be commensurate with your Navy pay. You'll have a permit to carry and with your specialized Navy SEAL training I'll feel safe enough to pursue this investigation to its conclusion."

> "Sorry. I have some money set aside to start a horse ranch and that is what I'm going to do. I've had enough of living by someone else's rules. I'm going to follow my dreams of home and family. I loved the Navy and I've served my country to the utmost of my ability but now my Sarah comes first in all things."

> "Take my card. Think about my offer while you're away and get back to me."

> "Sorry, Judge Travis, you're the last thing I'll be thinking of on my honeymoon!"

> Ginger had generously offered the newlyweds a palazzo in Venice for their honeymoon. Ezra had arranged a private jet to take them there and they arrived safely before Maude had even realized that it was missing. . .

> **Chapter 12**

> "It's absolutely perfect, Chris, can we buy it? Please can we?" pleaded Sarah Connolly Larabee.

> "Are you sure that it is exactly what you want, Mrs. Larabee? The place is very old and needs totally updating," teased Chris, "are you sure it's large enough?"

> "Chris! There are seven bedrooms and a nursery! The kitchen is so huge we'll have no problems modernizing it. Just new appliances and a lick of paint."

> "Old houses always have hidden problems and this house is _old_."

> "Maybe some new pipe work," conceded Sarah. "A house this old is solidly built."

> Vin smirked, knowing that it was too late as Chris was just as much in love with the place as Sarah clearly was. Not that he blamed them, he had felt at home the minute he entered the door. The Texan had picked up on an atmosphere. Something ancient called to him. Welcoming them all in.

> "Have you considered the long drive to your new office and back? Everyday? The newly promoted head of the Cold Case Squad can't afford to set a bad example by constantly showing up late." Chris Larabee was in no doubt that this was the ranch he wanted to make his home. If he took out a separate bank loan for the stock he probably could just about meet the asking price. It represented value for money as he had never expected so large a house or so many quality outbuildings for the sale price quoted.

> "It has everything, Chris. A large barn, wonderful grazing for the horses even a heated stable block and this ranch house is so full of potential. I want it, don't you?"

> "You don't stand a chance, Cowboy, she's nagging for two now," laughed Vin Tanner, from his spot leaning on his walking cane over by the veranda doors. He had advanced to the cane from his crutches quite quickly after his slow start.

> "Tanner, she doesn't need your encouragement and don't call me Cowboy," growled Chris, hugging his pregnant wife before handing the eager realtor an expensive, embossed business card. "Telephone our financial adviser to complete the deal."

> "Ezra P. Standish? O joy," groaned the realtor, having already crossed swords with Ezra Standish on a town house sale only a month earlier. Standish was an Olympic gold medalist in negotiation. The realtor would rather suffer ten rounds with a boxing kangaroo than take the financial hits Standish would dish out. He could kiss goodbye to his usual commission.

> Still the rundown old place, a greatly reduced parcel of what was once the biggest cattle ranch in the area, had proved difficult to unload. The present owner was a curmudgeon older than Methuselah apparently uninterested in achieving an astronomically high price by selling what was left of the land to any number of enthusiastic construction companies. Instead demanding to know the background of any prospective buyer in detail before turning offer after offer down. Citing the fact that the rest of the surrounding land belonged to a wildlife reserve and any new owner of the ranch would have to be sympathetic to that. Perhaps this Chris Larabee's offer would pass muster.

> "We are doing the right thing aren't we, Chris? This is what you want?" asked Sarah as the realtor quickly exited the ranch house business card and cellphone in hand. "It won't be easy running this place alone while I'm on duty."

> "The only easy day was yesterday," quoted Chris, kissing her. "Sarah, I've never been so happy or so sure about anything," he reassured her with more kisses.

> "Damn. Will you two get a room?" grumbled Vin.

> "We're trying to, Tanner, you're the one playing gooseberry," complained Chris.

> Grinning widely Vin hobbled to the open door just in time to see the realtor rest his head on the steering wheel of his car and begin sobbing.

> "Looks like the deal just went through at rock-bottom price, Cowboy. Score one to Ezra."

> Vin pulled his harmonica out of his pocket and tooted a western theme on it in celebration.

> "Play another tune, Tanner," groaned Sarah.

> "Don't know another," smirked Vin.

> "Hell, Tanner, you don't know that one!" laughed Chris.

> Sarah took Chris by the hand and led him through the rooms. "I think the credenza should go in here, Chris, also the room across the hall will be a perfect sewing room for me."

> "Study. That will be my study-cum-office," stated Chris.

> "No, a sewing room. I'll have so much to get ready for the new baby, drapes to alter and hang and quilts to make---"

> "Study," insisted Chris stubbornly.

> "The light in here is perfect for sewing," insisted Sarah equally stubbornly.

> "Mom and Dad are fighting again," laughed Vin. "I'm going outside to decide which three stalls I'll need for Peso."

> "Wait. Three stalls? For one horse? How will I make a profit on that?" yelled Chris.

> "Peso likes his own space. You'll need to keep the stalls on either side of his empty or he's apt to be a mite cantankerous."

> "Stubborn mule."

> "You sure are, Cowboy!"

> **Five months after Chris and Sarah took possession of their new ranch. . .**

> The ranch house was hardly a peaceful place. Sarah and Chris made "lively" discussion part of everyday life but it was a place of love and hope. A welcoming haven for their friends both old and new.

> Professor Josiah Sanchez and Inez Recillos had become regular weekend visitors. Finding the air of normality the perfect antidote to the high-profile murder cases that took such a toll on them mentally.

> While avoiding even the merest hint of "menial labor" Ezra Standish had found the ranch a place of inspiration. Having inherited another of his mother's talents his watercolor paintings of the rolling vistas sold well in the most exclusive galleries worldwide.

> Buck Wilmington, although having started a relationship with Hildegarde Petrie and left the Cold Case Squad behind to begin leading the Task Force investigating organized crime, somehow found time to help out around the ranch.

> J. D. Dunne had joined Buck Wilmington's Task Force part-time while he finished his education and often found himself roped into ranch work too. Not that he was complaining having discovered an affinity with horses he had never once suspected he had.

> Sarah Larabee was preparing to start maternity leave from her job heading up the Cold Case Squad. Vin Tanner was ready to take temporary command in her stead but still found himself able to work the horses with Chris in return for parking the old RV he'd rescued from the PD impound lot, behind the Larabee's barn.

> Of course the fiercely dedicated Sarah Larabee was determined to work her cases right up until the last possible moment but no scion of the Larabee family could expect to be born without a making dramatic entrance into the world so Sarah Larabee's waters broke in medical examiner Nathan Jackson's autopsy suite. Nathan was more than happy to hold Sarah's hand in the ambulance taking her to hospital while rejoicing in being able to welcome life instead of presiding over death.

> By the time Sarah and Nathan had reached the delivery room Chris was already pacing the sterile corridors in anticipation. An excited Buck and a strangely guilty-looking JD burst through the glass doors only minutes later.

> When Admiral Woodrow C. Larabee strode through the swing doors Chris understood JD's guilty expression. The fact that Nettie Wells and her niece Casey had accompanied his father softened Chris Larabee's attitude somewhat. Especially when Chris heard squealing tires and Ezra swept in with a camera-toting Ginger Larabee.

> However, Adam Christopher Larabee seemed aware that the full complement of Chris and Sarah's closest friends had not yet put in appearance and had therefore seen fit to delay his entry into the world.

> *******

> When his L'Estasi Dell'Oro ringtone alerted him to the good news Vin Tanner was unfortunately miles away sitting in Josiah Sanchez's cozy study going over a number of cold cases that they both suspected may have been examples of the Bus Stop Killer's early work. It was a gruesome task but both men wanted to give the victims' families closure.

> Intending to give them both minute by minute updates Ezra put the two woefully disappointed men on speaker so that they could at least share in the big event vicariously. There was something about the longing in Vin's voice that made Nettie Wells nudge Admiral Larabee in the ribs with a sharp elbow. Knowing from bitter experience that when it came to Nettie Wells to hear was to obey, Admiral Larabee pulled out his cellphone and barked orders into the ear of some hapless Navy underling.

> The blasé hospital staff were quite used to seriously ill patients being helicoptered onto the rooftop landing pad but a heavily-armed Navy helo landing in the parking lot of a civilian hospital and disgorging two perfectly healthy examples of the male species was somewhat unusual. Suddenly all the hospital's nurses had urgent business on that floor of the hospital.

> Vin and Josiah exited the helo and barreled through the doors as right on cue Adam Christopher Larabee deigned to put in his appearance at last. Eventually a grinning Chris emerged from the delivery room sure that he was the proudest father in the entire world.

> The Admiral passed around the best Cuban cigars and Ezra bought out the Gift store's entire stock of "Congratulations it's a boy!" items from helium balloons to ridiculously huge teddy bears.

> Chris Larabee's happiness was complete.
> 
>  

> _To show him how precarious this happiness was,_

> _Dionysius seated him at a banquet_

> _with a sword hung by a single hair over his head._

>  
>
>> **EPILOGUE**

> To Chris Larabee's way of thinking contentment was a much unappreciated state of mind. One that he now reveled in. He was no longer the driven man he had once been. The battle-hardened Navy SEAL had faded into the background. Not even the heavy drinking stud with the gunslinger mentally desperate to escape his whiskey-soaked demons had a place in Chris Larabee's new life. He was a happily married husband and father that had somehow inherited six best friends to ride the river with.

> He was still keen to make a success of his horse ranch using the quality bloodstock he had invested in, with the aid of a hefty loan from the bank, purely in order to provide for his wife and son. He had politely declined the large financial settlement Hildegarde Petrie had so generously offered him, without hesitation. He never wanted to touch anything tainted by Ella not even cash money.

> If he never became the world's top horse-breeder then to him it no longer mattered. His biggest ambition was to be the best father to Adam Larabee that he could possibly be. To never repeat the mistakes Admiral Woodrow C. Larabee had made raising his son. He swore a solemn oath that he would always be there whenever Adam needed him.

> From the safety of his blue blankie an oblivious Adam Larabee gummed happily on the antique coral baby rattle Vin had given him as a christening present, its small silver bells jingling. Sitting at his corner desk Chris occupied himself opening and leisurely reading his personal mail. Glancing across the room at Sarah's sewing machine he smiled. Compromise wasn't so bad a thing. Looking lovingly down at his beautiful son Chris opened the letter mailed two days ago in Tijuana, a wedding photograph fell out and his idyllic world came crashing down around him.

> _Dearest Chris,_

> _I forgive you for not appreciating what I did for you, for us but I cannot allow the jealous and the weak-of-heart to destroy the great love we share. If we have the courage of our true hearts we will do whatever is needed to find our way back to each other and the rest of the world be damned._

> _Until that day, I remain faithfully, lovingly yours_

> _Ella Larabee_

> *******

> One day previously . . .

> "Why are we here?"

> "Damned if I know, Ezra. Somethin' just ain't right. Got this feelin' crawling up my spine for the last few days."

> Ezra Standish scanned the charred remains of the burned out ranch house on the Petrie-Gaines-Larabee land. "Ella Gaines is dead, Vin."

> "Yeah," sighed Vin. "Hope she's gettin' her just desserts in Hell."

> "No one could have survived that cataclysmic inferno."

> "Hell naw," agreed Vin.

> "Unless . . ." Ezra circled the ash-strewn perimeter.

> "What?" demanded Vin.

> Ezra pulled out his cellphone. "Hello, Miss Hildegard Petrie? It is such a pleasure to speak to you again. Are you well? Delighted to hear that you are in rude health. Could you possibly recall if Ella Gaines-Petrie-Larabee had any building work undertaken out at the Petrie ranch? Anything structural? No? Is there anything you can bring to mind that---what? Heavy machinery? Trucks? When was that? Before Chris Larabee was employed here? No, indeed you have been most helpful. Thank you."

> As Ezra pocketed his phone Vin looked at the ruins again and then his eye followed the land up towards the barn. His sharp eyes detected a difference in the level of the land. A slight rise snaked across the grassland. He remembered hooking up the RV to the power and water. "Ella had water pipes and power cables laid from the ranch house up to the barn?"

> "Miss Hildegard recalled very heavy machinery being used to dig an extremely deep trench."

> "For laying pipes?"

> "Cement trucked onto the ranch in numerous loads. Shuttering coming in and rubble by the truck load being taken out."

> "She was building a tunnel?"

> "An escape tunnel built under the guise of building a conduit for power and water."

> "What kinda woman needs an escape tunnel?"

> "The murderous kind, Vin."

> "I swear I'm gonna find her, Ezra. Ya with me?"

> "The game is afoot!" cried Ezra.

> Vin held out his hand and Ezra gripped it firmly as their pact to hunt down Ella Gaines was made.

**THE END**


End file.
